Odd Ones
by rikufanattic
Summary: Yet she would most likely bring back painful memories to him, ones he tried to forget, and he would soon realize he hasn’t let them go. They’re both strangers to one another, they’re odd ones.Full summary inside, told through OC and Kai POV. CC needed
1. Late night rendezvous, sort of

**A/N:** This is my first Blood story, and CC is welcomed, but no flames, that's just horrible to an author, unless if you call it a wake up call then by all means somehow put some freakin' CC in there somewhere…

**Summary:** It's been about a couple of months since Saya has slept and Kai has made it his duty to take care of the twins. An unlikely visitor in the pub somehow makes him look forward to the late night hours from time to time. Yet she would most likely bring back painful memories to him, ones he tried to forget, and he would soon realize he hasn't let them go. They're both strangers to one another, they're odd ones. Told through the POV of the OC and of Kai.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Blood at all, because if I did I would've somehow ended up putting Kai with Irene. I do own the OC, she's all mine. 

**Title:** Odd Ones 

**Chapter 1: **Late night rendezvous, sort of

The sun was starting to come up, hitting the cracks at just the right angle to annoy me. The curtains that my good old caretaker bought for me are nice and everything but they don't really help with trying to keep out the sunlight. I try telling him I'm not that much of a morning person, but I know he means well. 

This dark blue, royal blue, light blue, and white with black, styled room is all mine, courtesy of my caretaker, thank the deities I love that man to death. The tiles on this room are white and cold, the ceiling looks like clouds, and the walls have a light blue color with white borders, with little dark blue, and royal blue music notes fashioned throughout the room.

The man I have to thank for all of this is none other than Nathan Mahler, my good old caretaker I suppose. A man with blonde hair and colored eyes, a _gringo_ in my culture, but a very good one.

I pulled the covers off of me, looking lazily around the room; everything was blurry just like it always was, thanks to my near-sightedness. I just realized that the sheets were checkered, with the colors black and white. I sighed and reminded myself mentally to thank the lady who works within the Mahler household.

A lot of people think I live like a princess, but truth be told I do not, or rather I decide to be more humble. Sure I mean it would be great buying a PS3 or a Blu-Ray player, but even a man of Nathan's stature has his financial limits. I don't really care, so long as I have a place to call my home for the time being.

"Selma dear, are you awake?" a familiar voice called out. It gave off a female vibe, but I knew who it was already and smiled. 

He didn't open the door until he had somehow managed to sense the fact that I was busy straightening out my bed hair. The door clicked, and I could faintly hear it open, and by that time I was wearing my glasses, and straightening out my sleeping gown.

"Good morning Mr. Mahler." I said smiling as pleasantly as I could, it was sort of impossible to do so, so early in the morning.

"Good morning Selma." He responded with his manly-lady like charm. It was very flattering in a way because it just made him seem that much more, pleasant to be around. "I have to say your Japanese is improving more and more with each passing day."

"Thank you very much Mr. Mahler…" I said facing my back to him, trying to fix my bed. I had only been living in Okinawa for some time under a university student program, those that study aboard for a semester, but I really wanted to study here full time. Sure I would most likely fall flat on my face learning Japanese like if I was a toddler, but it didn't seem that hard to pronounce.

Nathan is more than understanding though, I swear he has the instincts of a woman at times, and I'm not surprised if he is flamboyant, I mean he sure does act it. He speaks to me in English, while I try my best to respond in Japanese from time to time. He's a good teacher, sometimes he could be patient, but other times he gets easily frustrated.

"Breakfast is on the table…" he said, the man wearing the white cotton garment with dark colored pants walked down the stairs with god like grace.

"If you don't mind me asking, where is Madame Cheza?" I asked. He made a sound and I frowned having to repeat myself in Japanese again. '_Damn you Nathan… You really know how to press my buttons…_' I thought sighing for a moment.

"Cheza is gone for the moment, she's off doing a couple of errands. It's just you and me, _mon ami_." He said chuckling as he went down the flight of stairs.

---

Okinawa, it's so much different from Los Angeles, I'll be honest, and yet I love it here. I am a stranger to these people, as they are a stranger to me. Speaking of stranger's Nathan wants me to accompany him to visit someone who is a stranger to me. He mostly does this when Cheza is inside the house, but today she's off doing errands so he _has_ to drag me along, but I don't think he minds, not that I've noticed anyway.

Nathan's taste in clothing is, rather unique. We're in summer and he has me wearing sleeveless spring dresses, something I highly loathe with all my being, but he did do me the favor of answering what should I wear. A small little black band has been placed neatly between my bangs and the rest of my hair. He really did want to make me look presentable for this occasion.

The dress is black and white, something not really found in a spring dress, not to my knowledge at least. He says it's one of a kind, so I take pride in wearing it I suppose. Something keeps bugging my right side of my vision though, it's from that little band that Nathan tied on my head, it has a couple of black feathers on it, with little beads, they clink against the frame of my glasses.

Nathan decided to wear something a bit different, it looks like a slight formal business suit, and I mean _slightly looking_. He somehow managed to fashion a long sleeved blouse, and tight matador looking pants, he dressed black and white, with fashioned white boots. Somehow though I knew he was wearing bluish purple fabric somewhere, and he had a pink ribbon tied to his right wrist, on the sleeve of the blouse.

Well here we were walking down the streets of Okinawa, and I tried my best to fit in, and not act like such a tourist. Nathan told me not to speak English, but rather speak my second tongue, Spanish, as it would attract less attention away from the fact that I was American. He mentioned that it would make me seem exotic too, but I really didn't want that right now.

Nathan knows it really hard for me to fit in, even as we're walking down the cross walk, pushing and bumping into some of the crowded areas. My skin is dark compared to theirs, not because of the sun, but because of my heritage. I look Hindu, believe it or not, but I'm not, I'm all Central American. You could point me out really easily. I know Nathan's going to try and explain to the person he has a 'date' with why he brought me over.

"Why didn't we bring the car?" I asked timidly as I held on to the side of Nathan's shirt like a little child. He tried his best to act patiently with me. I didn't like being with crowded people.

"It's a rather lovely day for a walk, little one." He said giving me that dazzling smile of his. I wonder what my parents would say about me staying with a flamboyant man, I know my dad would say straight out _joto_, of course he acts gay, that's no surprise there. "Plus…" he interrupted my thoughts, "exercise is good for a woman of your age, it makes you seem attractive."

"It's not like we're going to meet a gentleman suitor for me…" I said quickly shaking my head. "If this is your idea of a joke Mr. Mahler…"

"Have _some _trust in me Selma. You're going to hurt my feelings. Besides…" He paused for a moment. "I wanted you to try out my latest design, you've got a figure of a model."

"Models have boobs, and an ass…" I said in Spanish trying not to sound all that rude. "The only thing I have going for me is being known as a 'year eater' and having big hips…"

"And you're _innocence_…" the last part he stressed out with a demonic tone. I shuddered and looked away. He always did that when he wanted to win an argument with me.

**K a i **

What can I really say? Things are slowly starting to smile on our favor. I can't really ask for too much help from Julia's part I mean she had just had children of her own, David's too busy with his little family, and Lewis, well he does as much as he can. Mao and that reporter Okamura are off somewhere in the Middle East, they're trying to raise awareness to countries that need help.

The pub has been closed for the day while I'm tending to the needs of the twins. They're really beautiful little girls, they take after Saya and Diva, after all they are twins. There's a little girl with blue eyes, and another one with red eyes, just like their mother and aunt.

I'm sitting here, in the nursery with the two sleeping babes. I've had to try and give them their own personality. The little one with red eyes, I've named Akako. The other little one with blue eyes I've decided to name Amaya. It fits them, believe it or now. 'Akako' is a passionate name that signifies 'red'. Amaya is a name that means 'night rain'. To me water and blue go together, so I figured what the hell.

I'm supposed to be a getting a visitor sometime later in the day, and I'm glad, for once it's someone that I have a slight connection with. Nathan, my regular visitor, he comes a lot now, wanting to see how the children are growing up. He explained to me that all that Diva wanted was to have a family of her own, and some how I empathized with her. I had lost my family in a way.

Before long in the two separate cribs the little ones fell asleep, and I sighed in content. The room has light colors, mostly pastel, but I don't think the babies enjoy that one bit, Nathan helped with the redecorating, and I wasn't picky to whoever lent a hand. I tried my best to walk skillfully along the wooden floor, hopefully I wouldn't disturb them.

The doorway to and fro the room was the only way out, and walking out that room was like trying to bust out a stealthy ninja move, television and reality are two very different things. I made it out though, the first thing to greet my sight, from the pastel room, were wooden pieces of furniture, a clock, a dining table, they were all simple little things needed to survive. 

I walked downstairs and yawned for a moment. I stretched and moved my neck from side to side. I felt a cool piece of metal touch my chest and I sighed, again memories would flood back from time to time, but I know that dwelling back on things like that wouldn't help me at all. Besides I can't go moping about taking care of the twins.

"_Y en fin tuvimos que tomar el carro…_" I heard a voice coming from downstairs, somewhere in the pub. I blinked for a moment, and realized something; I wasn't properly dressed to tend the bar.

"Okay, so I lied…" that voice was familiar. "I just wanted you to walk a little bit in the streets of Okinawa to model the dress, but we weren't going to walk all the way to the pub, in this heat, of course not you'd be all untidy for our host."

"_Ni se su nombre… ni su edad, alo mejor es una mujer…_" the voice sounded a bit ticked off. My brain tried to register what language that was, but it seemed really distant to me. '_Come on Kai, think…_' I thought trying to remember what language that was.

"You're as straight as they come little one. I wouldn't even dream of letting you get acquainted with some of the women here. Probably Diva, but you came too late for her grand performance…"

I cleared my throat and made myself be known. I walked down the wooden area, and smiled sheepishly for a moment. Nathan sighed in disappointment and shook his head, whispering something to his foreign companion to his right. She was wearing a strange looking summer dress, with black and white, it looked fairly simple though. She had something in her hair, whatever it was it had feathers and beads in it.

What was I wearing? A tight black muscle shirt, a pair of faded jeans, and comfortable black shoes. Nathan was dressed to impress, and no doubt he probably instilled the same thing on his companion. I couldn't help but stare, she looked like she was from India, but I doubt that she was. Her eyes were very dark, and she looked young, almost too young to be even 16 years old. 

"…" I bowed slightly, and surprisingly the girl did the same, she smiled a little bit and looked back at Nathan. He nodded and she took a seat at the bar stool. Nathan casually strolled over there in his own way. Watching the girl walk, it was pretty noticeable that she had the strut of a guy; probably back from where ever she was from. Still for a little kid she looked beautiful.

"This is Kai Miyagusuku." Nathan said looking the brown skinned girl. I was in front of them now, as their bartender. She smiled politely and said her hello; it surprised me that her Japanese didn't seem that broken like most of the foreigners that came from different places. It sounded, very soft.

"My name is Seruma Ropez…" her voice was very timid, I could tell she didn't really want to talk. ' _Selma__… Seruma, Lopez is Ropez… she even tries to mimic our dialectic right down to the "r"… maybe she already had trouble pronouncing "r" in her own language,'_ I thought and extended that old Miyagusuku charm, it at least got her to relax a bit.

I turned my head slightly to look at Nathan, but that little chevalier had already disappeared no doubt to see the little sleeping twins. I sighed and placed the white towel over my shoulder, for a moment I found the new visitor watching my movements for a moment, maybe she was just as bored as I was now.

"Did you finish high school already, Kai?" she asked, placing both of her elbows on top of the counter, and rested the side of her face on one side of her palm.

"Yes, I did…" I said chuckling slightly. "You probably still have a long way to go, am I right?" I noticed the expression change on her, and I think I might have said the wrong thing at that moment. She closed her eyes and sighed. Up until now I just barely noticed she was wearing glasses, they matched with the outfit, they were black and white frames.

"I just turned 18 last year… It's going to be my 19th this year, and I still get mistaken for a child of 16 or so." She said, almost as if she had been told this all of her life. "It's alright for making that mistake, Kai." And now it occurred to me, that she wasn't startled by the fact that Nathan had reappeared so quickly. '_Then she must know…_' I thought, but this was Nathan I was talking about, he wouldn't blindly tell her something like _that_. 

We were all startled to hear something upstairs. I could hear the infants cry again and I excused myself to go and tend to my little nieces. I know that Nathan wouldn't leave me alone with the babies, and there was no point in leaving Selma behind as well. I walked upstairs and found Nathan there picking up Amaya. I turned my head slightly to look in back of me and found Selma on the step behind me. She asked if she could see the children as well, and I couldn't really say no to a face like that, besides she was Nathan's guest.

I picked up Akako and she cooed for a moment in my arms. Selma was standing close by, with Nathan's back turned towards us for a while. She smiled, and for a moment I saw something gleam in her eyes, sadness, I guess that's what it was. But why would she feel sad seeing two twins?

"They're both beautiful…" she said looking back at me for a moment. I asked her if she would like to hold Akako, and she accepted the small invitation. She cooed the little baby, and lightly placed a slender finger on the babe's nose. In a spilt second the baby managed to get her hands on the girl's glasses and she laughed gently. "That always happens…" she said, trying gently to pry the glasses away from Akako. 

"She doesn't normally take kindly to strangers…" I said. She had that motherly air to her, the shy girl a I met moments ago changed in that instance, and somehow it made me think a bit differently of her.

"Mr. Mahler…" she called out gently looking in back of her. "I wouldn't mind coming back here every once in a while to help look after the twins. I mean that is if it's all right with you, Kai Miyagusuku…" her dark brown eyes looked back at me.

"Not at all…" I found myself saying. I really did need the extra help around here.

"The two of you are really lucky that summer is here, otherwise I would have to say no to Selma's request. She's studying here for only a semester, I pretty sure you didn't mention that…" Nathan said chuckling for a moment. "I'm only helping her pay to spend summer here in Okinawa."

"I mean if you can't Selma…" I looked back at her, and she seemed slightly upset for some reason. "You don't…"

"I really do want too…" she said giving me an innocent look. Irene flashed into my memory and I sighed, taking Akako from her gentle care. "I really do Kai. Besides you can help me!" she kept her voice down a bit.

"There's no need to rush…" Nathan said looking back at his 'pupil'. "You'll have a whole semester once summer is over."

"But you just…" she huffed for a moment, and right away I saw the little flustered kid in her. She sighed and straightened her composure for a moment. "Fine Mr. Mahler…" 

"I remember now…" I said chuckling as something finally clicked. "You were speaking Spanish earlier, weren't you?"

"You heard that?" she asked, a faint blush was present on her face.

"I know a little bit of Spanish…" I said. I tried my best to show her that I did, and she tried to hide a laugh with her hand. Another thing I noticed, Nathan had her wear black gloves.

"I think we've overstayed our welcome today…" Nathan said looking at the lock beside us. "We should probably let you get some sleep Kai, you look exhausted." He said, and he was probably right.

The babes were hushed right back to sleep, and we ended up finding ourselves at the entrance of the pub. Both Nathan and Selma were slightly covered by the darkness, but I could tell the expressions that they held. And I know for a fact that the new girl didn't really want to leave the pub, but Nathan had her on a 'leash' I guess you could say.

She shook my hand, instead of bowing, and they disappeared into the night. In the distance I could see the car light come alive, and the engine started to die down as they drove away. 

That night I knew I would dream of my little brother Riku, and of Irene, there was no doubt in my mind. That girl made me feel nostalgic of my old life, high school, Dad, Riku and Saya. It's not her fault, but I'm kind of ticked off that Nathan didn't tell me he was bringing a guest that night… 


	2. Like a boomerang

**A/N:** A big thanks to all the readers and Rax13 for giving me a review. I know POVs aren't all that interesting so, anyone who has read my past works, I'll be switching to third person in the next chapter. You know it'd help if you guys could tell me what to add, at least to try and make it more interesting.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Blood at all, because if I did I would've somehow ended up putting Kai with Irene. I do own the OC, she's all mine.

**Chapter 2:**Like a boomerang 

I still remember that day, that small moment in time when memories came flooding back to me. Seeing Irene for the final time, the lonely gaze from Riku's face, my father's last act. Everyone seemed to have been pushed back from my mind, and then _her_ face was the last one that would give me a lasting impression, Saya, the one I still loved.

Taking care of the children, I hoped that one day while visiting the Miyagusuku grave, that I would find _her_ awake, her hair already long, and those ruby eyes that caught my attention like they had done so long ago. I know that I was wishing for a miracle, but let a guy dream for once, I had been through enough already.

It was on that faithful day, when I met Nathan's pupil, Selma Lopez that all those memories finally bubbled up to the surface. I'm glad I don't see that girl, I'm really glad that Nathan had told her not to come, because I don't think I could have handled having to face her and the effects she had on me. She reminds me of every single one of the people I had lost; it just didn't seem fair at all. 

It's been months now, and her nineteenth birthday had already passed, and now she's studying, and for once I'm glad that the university was in session for her. I never felt so much hate towards one person, not even Diva because there's no point in throwing my hate on a deceased person. It's not that I hated her, no, that wasn't the case; it's just that somehow she… if I did spend time with her I would most likely be swept with memories of the people in my life.

I broke out of my thoughts now and looked around; the pub had been going slow. In a way I'm kind of thankful that I had been paying attention to Dad most of the time when I would skip school and help around.

People, mostly college students would come in the afternoon, some of the students in the areas got out early, and they would commute from here to the university grabbing something to drink. They didn't stay long, mostly grab and go. I sighed for a moment going around the bar counter to cater to the needs of my customers. 

The little sound the door made caught my attention and I looked up. A familiar face was caught by my presence and a loud voice filled the room, to a certain degree. It was Lewis, he was hardly someone you couldn't help but notice, I mean come on a man wearing a dark round sunglasses couldn't go around and not get a couple of stares.

"Yo Kai!" he said in that accent of his.

"Yo Lewis, what brings you here?" I asked chuckling as he made his way towards the bar.

"Came by to see an old buddy of mine." The rather large man said, I knew who he was referring to and I laughed.

The fans were creaking slightly as they moved, providing some relief from the body heat that was produced due to the small crowd that was inside the pub. Several business men had come inside short after Lewis, and they ordered a couple of beers. They were laughing and talking loudly, they probably just had a stressful afternoon and needed a place to vent for the remaining hours.

"Has that girl dropped by?" a voice asked breaking me away from my inner deep thoughts. I gave Lewis a confused stare and he chuckled for a moment. "That girl you told me about, the one with Nathan."

"Oh…" I laughed, and brought one of the empty glasses close I frowned for a moment noticing there was a small gritty piece of a food stain on there. "She hasn't passed by…" I said looking up at Lewis for a moment. "Nathan says that she has been pretty busy…"

"I see…" Lewis said nodding for a moment. "Kind of a shame though, she could've taken your mind off things…" he laughed and I felt my jaw drop a bit at the thought. I shook my head and smiled. Lewis pulled something out of his pants pocket and handed me a photo, it was of David, Julia, and their new born children.

"Is everyone having twins this year?" I joked of course. They looked happy in the photo. I turned it over and noticed the date from it; it had been taken several weeks ago. "How are they?"

Lewis told me they were doing rather well and I was glad to hear that. The conversation was broken though when I totaled up the bill for a table and with that they left expressing their gratitude in some way or another. Somehow with Lewis my mind seemed to wander, and that girl kept popping into my head, but with that memories tried to replace her face.

"I should get going…" Lewis said getting up and paying his bill. He always added a generous tip. "Hey Kai, you still want me to take care of the twins tomorrow?" I nodded and we each said our goodbyes. I looked up at the plain looking clock off in the distance and sighed. '_Nathan said he wasn't coming today…_' I thought and shook my head, watching the last person leave, staggering off drunkenly down the sidewalk. I was glad that the customer didn't live so far away from the pub, he had walked here from his home.

**S e l m a**

Classes were a major drag today, and I had been late for one of my classes because a friend of mine wanted to stop by a local pub. I didn't go inside though because he said he would be right back, and I wanted to be in his car. My colleague's name was Aaron Saki Hamasaka, someone 4 years my senior, and he acts like a kid despite him being older than me.

"I'm sorry…" he said over an over again in that little kid voice. I sighed, and playing the role of the nice friend, I told him it was okay. "You look a little bit upset Selma…"

"I'm fine…" I said cutting him off. He was one of the few students who spoke Spanish, and with that simple connection he could help me with my Japanese, and I could help him with Spanish. Believe it or not English was our first language.

I know for a fact Mr. Hamasaka has a crush one me, and it's more than obvious really. A girl by the name Kaori even made that really clear in front of him. Truth be told I don't see him like that, and like I told Nathan he scares me, but not because he's a guy, it's because somehow I can tell he's done things he's never regretted. Kaori, I know she can't keep her mouth shut, she's told me things about him that are already confirming my suspicions.

The two of us, as of right now are walking down the sidewalk, away from the campus, past the lovely trees and the leaves that are scattered about, making _crunch crack ssshhh_ as our feet tread across the concrete. I feel a hand lightly caress the side of my face and I push it away.

"_Basta!_" I whisper harshly looking at the twenty-three year old male. He chuckled and continued walking as if nothing happened, and because of that I feel sick to my stomach. I really wish that Kaori was here, at least then I'd feel safe with her.

"Come on Selma don't act like that." He said turning around to look at me. I sighed and looked away, and I was just giving him more of a reason to comfort me, but that's not what I wanted from him.

'_Kai…_' a name I thought that never would've popped into my head. I thought back to the distant red head and the twins, Akako and Amaya. I looked back down at my feet and continued walking. After all Aaron was my ride home. At that point I thought I should've just had Kaori take me back to Nathan's place but I had already told her that this guy was taking me home.

I was thinking of ways to just end up going to the Omoro and I hurled my body forward, pretending to be in pain. I gasped and clutched my eyes tightly, whispering the phrase 'it hurts' over and over again till my expression gave off a worthy performance of holding some truth to it. And right on cue Hamasaka came to my aid, I felt bad for him at this point, but I wanted to see Kai, at least just once more, and apologize for not helping him with the twins.

"The Omoro's close by… can you hold on till then…?" he paused for a moment an without a moment to react I felt him carry me. At that point I did feel sick to my stomach. '_Keep it together…_' I thought over and over in my head. "Your face it's looking a little pale…"

All I can remember is ending up in his beige colored Kia, and before long I saw the street move with us. I pretended for as long as I could till my mind won over my body. I know that Aaron was worried about me, but I didn't want him too mostly because I was faking my sickness. But I desperately wanted to get away from him, and I know that right now Nathan wasn't in a good mood to hear me whine to him again.

The car was moving at dangerous speeds, and I didn't have to feel like my face was pale, because he was a reckless driver at times. I reminded him in a sickly voice to slow down and he obeyed, just like I thought he would.

The Omoro, my sanctuary for the time being was right there. He parked and looked at me nervously, leaning forward, but I pretended to make a fake gagging noise and he drew back. '_Kaori was right… he'll make a pass even if you are sick…_' I thought as I shuddered even more. When I decided it was time to get out of the leathered upholstered car, I made sure to stumble a bit with abdominal pains.

"I'll get you some water…" he said trying to get me to sit back down in the car. '_No way, this is my chance to talk to Kai…_' I thought to myself and followed him stumbling a bit.

"I don't want to throw up in your car…" I said trying to sound as honest as I could, but if I were sick I would've thrown up in his car anyway. He shook his head and pulled me along, _and_ to make matters worse his hand was rest on my hip. '_Whatever deity is out there I hope I have the tolerance not to kick him in the nuts… so help me spirits…_' I thought to myself. Before we made it to the entrance to the Omoro I pushed his hand away from me, I felt violated for some reason.

I shielded my eyes for a bit, the lighting was a bit strong but soon my vision was fixed. It was just like how it had been months ago. I breathed in and smiled, feeling nostalgia run through my thoughts. I shook my head noticing the stare that Mr. Hamasaka was giving me and I stumbled over to a bar stool. 

"Selma, is that you?" a voice called out from one of the near by tables. I felt, within moments, someone hugging me to death. "Hey buddy! I thought you were going home with…" I looked up noticing the girl Kaori holding me close. I felt safe for a while. Kaori had paused because Aaron was right beside her. "Hey Hamasaka." She said smiling. 

I tried to tune out their talking with meaningless thoughts, and I remembered something. I turned my head slightly, catching the doorway to my left, it seemed different for some reason. '_That door wasn't there when I went…Oh, that's why he put that sign there…_' I thought smiling all to myself. The wooden door in the distance said 'Staff only' in read writing.

"It's okay Hamasaka, I can take her home…"

"No need to worry about it Kaori, I can do it…"

"I'll take the load off, besides I'm a girl last time I checked, and I probably know what's bugging her…" Kaori had won that small round against Mr. Hamasaka and I was glad.

"Besides Aaron…" I looked up at him, and he was glad I called him by his first name. "It's getting late for you… You're parents are going to murder you…"

With that I watched my tormentor walk out of the bar and I felt relief wash over me with a gentle soothing motion. I drew out a long breath and looked back at Kaori and we both laughed. I hugged her and she returned the favor as we laughed up a storm.

The bar, the Omoro was exactly the way I remember it, minus the new addition of a door. The tables were in the same place, the stools had that same upholstery, and the counter was the same as well. I looked up from the thin rails and noticed someone that appeared to be Kai, or at least the back of him. I smiled, remembering my first encounter with him.

**K a i**

I heard two girls laughing close to the bar and I turned around not knowing what the world had in store for me. I almost dropped the glass I was cleaning, when noticing Saya's friend Kaori, and that girl. My heart felt fine, but my mind was racing with all the memories that started coming up to the surface.

"Hey Kai!" Kaori said smiling at me. I smiled back and walked closer towards the two.

"Hello Kai Miyagusuku." The brown skinned young adolescent said, with that same pleasantness she had back when I first met her. I responded to each with my own gesture of hello.

They were both wearing casual clothing for the slightly cold weather that we had been having. Kaori was wearing a jacket and pants, while Selma was wearing a dark scarf a tight turtleneck and dark jeans. I was wearing a sweatshirt with a hood, and some comfortable jeans with the little apron I had to wear around my waist. Kaori was amazed by the fact that we knew each other, and I could tell by her hand movements that she placed on Selma, she was a bit jealous. It kind of made me wonder if Selma had fallen for Kaori, but I doubted it.

People were starting to leave, they paid and left, or went back in to grab something, and they'd leave again, sort of like clockwork. I cleaned the counter as Kaori engaged Selma with rambles about her youth, back when things were pleasant, when things were normal.

Normal, a word I had longed to grasp after the fight with the Chiropterans, and I did, but it wasn't the normalcy I had been longing to grasp. I sighed and continued on the task I had at hand. Hours seemed to pass, and we were now long into the night, recounting old stories of our youth, both Kaori and myself, relaying it to Selma, the newcomer of Okinawa.

"I really wish I had met you guys back then…" she said softly smiling at us.

I remembered what she had told me that night, long ago. She was only going to be here for a semester and it was back to California, and she already had her own little admirer. It would be a mistake to even consider her for something like that, by which I mean of possible girlfriend material to anyone.

"It's really late Kaori…" Selma said after hearing some more stories about Saya and her. Kaori pulled up one of the sleeves of her jacket and noticed the time on the watch and sighed in disappointment. 

"Yeah… Aww man just when we were starting to really warm up with one another…" Kaori chuckled and stood up, she pulled out some currency and left me a tip, even though she didn't drink or anything. Selma did the same, but she didn't head out the door, instead she told Kaori to wait for her by the car.

"I'm sorry…" she said softly, bowing.

"For what?" I asked feeling left out in the dark.

"I didn't come back that day to help with the twins…" she jumped up in surprise and pulled out her cell phone, it was vibrating a bit. She regained her composure and placed it on the counter, letting it 'ring' so to speak. "I want to make that up to you…"

"You don't have to." I said shaking my head. "But it was nice of you to offer."

Her cell phone kept moving across the counter, and it was starting to bug me that she wouldn't pick up the call.

"Who is it anyway?" I asked.

"Hamasaka…" she said sighing.

"Persistent, ain't he?" I laughed watching the expression on her face. She wasn't laughing right away, but she smiled politely. "I take it you don't like him in that way?"

"I've been telling him for weeks, but he just won't get it through his head…" she said finally picking up the phone, only to hang up on him with a flip of the cell phone. "I told him that I was only staying here for a semester…"

"But you haven't told Kaori?" I asked trying hard not to cut her off.

"No… but that's why I'm going to try and convince the board to let me stay longer…" Selma said smiling; maybe she did have a chance if the education department saw her as a valuable member. "I've been getting good remarks, and Mr. Mahler says that maybe I have a good chance of staying… Well Kai Miyagusuku, I should get going then."

"I'll see you around Selma." I said waving goodbye.

"Tell the twins I said hi! I'll try and come tomorrow!" she said picking up her cell phone and headed out the door. I could've sworn she seemed happy for some reason. It was at the moment that I remembered that Lewis was going to help me with the twins tomorrow. '_It was better if we stayed on our separate paths…_' I thought to myself walking past the dirty tables, and into a room that had the sign 'Staff Only'. Akako and Amaya were sound asleep in their cribs.

"Selma sends her warm greetings." I said to my 'daughters' as I got ready to clean the place up and head back home with the twins at hand. 


	3. You're afflicted

A/N: I want to go ahead and thank the readers and reviewers alike. And yes there will be action in here in the future chapters... at least I hope I Think so.

**Chapter 3: **You're afflicted

Nathan pretended to be fast asleep on a small comfortable looking couch. He had heard someone unlock the front the door that was several meters away from the small area he was in. The blonde man knew who it was right away and smiled slightly, pretending to sleep. He breathed in and caught the whiff of his pupil right away, but her scent was slightly different. He felt a frown fall upon his facial features, and turned over in the light colored blanket he had wrapped himself in.

The brown skinned girl walked over to the living room, treading lightly on the wooden floors, leaving her shoes behind in their small designated area. Her socks muffled the sound of her footsteps, but only slightly, Nathan could hear everything going on. She didn't know of course and continued on her way. She paused reaching the entrance to the living room and leaned forward, letting her elbows rest on a dark colored couch, on which Nathan 'slept'.

"Goodnight Mr. Mahler…" she said in a soft voice, and Nathan heard her walking up the stairs, making a right down the hallway and entering the first door on the right side of the area.

The chevalier sighed and sat up rubbing his eyes, they ached a bit for staying closed for so long. He was glad that she came back, but he didn't like the fact that she smelled of the Omoro. '_She told me she wasn't going back…_' he thought but he let that notion just slowly slip from his mind.

It had been the first day in several months since she had gone back to the Omoro, and she had complained to him that she wanted to go back one day, but school and a couple of white lies stopped her from doing so. The chevalier had hoped that she would go back, but still he felt a bit strange, almost to father like when it came to the thought of Selma with someone else.

'_I understand… why he tried to keep from seeing her…_' Nathan thought looking up at the ceiling of his home for a moment. He thought back to the first woman he ever came to care about on that sort of level and sighed, chuckling softly to himself. He shook his head and searched around for the remote to the rather large screened television.

There had been very few Chiropteran outbreaks in Okinawa, so he wasn't all that worried if Selma did come home late, but for the past several days all she did was whine constantly about some Hamasaka fellow it was beginning to drive him a bit crazy, up to the point where he would just bluntly ask her one day 'why don't you just leave then?' or 'how about you just transfer?' just to be polite.

Upstairs the brown skinned youth made her way past the cold tile floors and somehow managed to dress herself in her sleeping attire, and before long found herself staring up at the ceiling of her decorated room. She took off her glasses and placed them on the table beside her bed and smiled at a faint memory.

She covered herself with the thin sheets that were neatly folded at the edge of her bed, and closed her eyes. She breathed in, catching faint traces of her stay at the Omoro. Selma could faintly smell the perfume that Kaori had, it was a light fragrance, one that she herself had previously worn before coming to Okinawa.

Somewhere rather far away from the Nathan Mahler household an individual was leaning against the doorway of one separate room, watching two figures sleep peacefully through the night. Kai ran his fingers through his hair and smiled softly, sending silent prayers with the children. He walked back out and yawned, rubbing his eye for a moment and sighed. He thought back to Kaori and Saya and how happy they had been, they had a bond almost like if they were sisters.

He sighed and found himself walking along the wooden floor and into the kitchen. He plopped down on a chair that was close to the small rounded table and found himself lost in through for awhile.

That girl's smile, it was plainly innocent as far as anyone could tell, but to Kai Miyagusuku that wasn't the case. She held the same gaze as Irene, the deceased Schiff. From there his mind traveled to Lulu, that last remaining Schiff, she had gone through a lot, losing all of her good friends in the process, but she had gained new ones as a result. She was staying with David and Julia for the remainder of it all, because she wanted to help Julia with the babies.

He knew that Kaori saw a bit of Saya in that new girl, but she was different from her as well. It didn't do her any justice, being placed side by side to Saya, because in Kai's mind Saya would take up most of the attention, but it would shift. He personally didn't know the new girl, but he knew enough to try and not get that close to her.

"It's not like I can just tell her not to help take care of the twins…" he said to himself watching something in the distance. He noticed the faucet as it dripped for a moment and Kai shook his head and yawned.

He closed his eyes slightly, and Irene's image plagued him, it had been awhile since he had thought about the Schiff like that. '_I still remember seeing you at the Eiffel Tower…_' he thought looking up at the ceiling and stretching for a moment.

A red balloon danced around in his mind for a second or two and he shook his head, bringing his hands to his face, he sighed and breathed in again once more. '_You're in a better place now, and you won't be forgotten Irene. You're in our memories…_' he thought and pushed the chair gently, so as not to wake the sleeping infants. With that he walked off to his room hopefully he would have a couple of good dreams that night.

"_I have a question for you…" the green eyed Schiff asked. "What… is a human?"_

"_You have no idea what a human is?" Kai asked._

"_We were created by those called the human beings."_

"_Huh…?" her words had caught his attention, loud and clear._

**S e l m a**

I sat up yawning, and dried the little tears that the yawn had produced and chuckled, feeling my cheeks get a bit rosy for some reason. I turned my head slightly and looked at the little red numbers that indicated the time and I squinted, I could barley see anything with my glasses, I keep forgetting that. I leaned in, my arms supporting me over the edge of the bed, I was too lazy to get up.

7:29 early in the morning, that's what it read, at least in my mind anyway. A second later, _genius _me fell off the bed, letting my arm slip on the sheet and down I went. My arm hit the nightstand, and my glasses landed on my chest. A _great_ way to start the morning. I sighed and sat up, rubbing the side of my head, and I let my glasses fall purposely on the tiled floor. '_I should probably take a shower…_'

I walked through my room, remembering to put my glasses back on the nightstand, and getting out of that dark blue two piece sleepwear. I ran frantically to the other side of the room grabbing the light pink towel and rushing off into the restroom, I'd figure out later what I would wear.

After five minutes the cold restroom began to grow warmer and warmer with the steam. I sighed and let the water hit my face. I didn't sleep all that well last night, stupid Hamasaka kept invading my dreams, it just goes to show that I'm not even safe from him within the comfort of my own mind, it's really annoying me now.

I did however have something else to look forward too, I finally get to help take care of the twins, Akako and Amaya. It's the least I could do for Kai Miyagusuku, he probably has enough problems to deal with. I breathed in, forgetting what it was I was doing, bathing was just something programmed into me, I didn't need to think about it so much, I was conditioned I guess you could say.

The fragrance was really soft, which was good for me because it'd probably end up getting my allergies started again, and I really didn't want that happening. It's the only thing I have left that really reminds me of home, because that's what I mostly had on me. Everything else like clothing and material possessions I couldn't really take so much with me, and Nathan was overjoyed at the time and he bought me a new wardrobe which I'm very grateful for. Plus he made new outfits all the time, he said it was because he had too much spare time on his hands now.

I shivered and shook my head, it reminded me of, for some strange reason, my little dog I left back home with my family, he use to shiver before drying himself off. '_God I am a nut case…_' I thought to myself and laughed slightly. The light hued towel was resting against the sink and I pick it up, wrapping it around this small looking thing called a body. This whole bathroom was color coordinated, except for my towels they could be whatever color they pleased. '_Nathan sure did set up everything in advance…_' I thought to myself musing over the fact that a man of that age would get so excited about having someone else around the house.

I opened the door, and out rushed some steam escaping into my room, but that didn't do much at all. The floor was still cold and I forgot to bring my slippers with me. '_I'll mop it up before Nathan throws a fit…_' I thought to myself and made sure not to slip on the tiles like last time. I dried my feet on a small blue rug in the middle of the room and made my way towards one of the wooden dressers. The brass knob was cold to the touch but so was everything in this room, not that I'm complaining about it or anything.

Before long I was wearing some comfortable jeans and undershirt with the essential, and a towel wrapped around my head, I still couldn't decide what shirt to wear. '_He just had to go on a shopping spree._' I chuckled and pulled out something, it was navy blue and white, it looked like a modified looking turtleneck. The material was a bit thin, kind of like a cotton shirt, with one thick stripe under the chest area. It was striped navy blue and white.

"I'll need a zipped one for this…" I mused to myself and plunged deeper into this semi-looking closet. At last I found a black hooded sweater, it had a small heart design on the right corner pocket and on the back were strange tribal designed wings, stitched in white.

"Shoes are downstairs…" I muttered to myself putting on the clothing articles, and slightly drying my hair in the process. I sniffed the air and something made my mouth water a bit. "Ms. Cheza's making blueberry waffles from scratch…" I could smell it a mile away, her cooking was like it was made by the gods themselves.

I don't know how many I ate, or how long I had been sitting at the wooden table, or even if Nathan had touched his coffee at all. I remember saying my good-bye's to both Ms. Cheza and Nathan Mahler, slipping occasionally on the wooden floors as I rushed to get my shoes from the front door.

Walking along the sidewalk of this place, it slowly reminds me how it's not that different from home, but there are a lot of people here, and if anything I'm a little afraid of people in general, especially one individual. I'm not scared of Kaori she's really nice, and Kai I don't know so much to actually be afraid of him. Nathan at first I was a bit scared but he's a doll, and Ms. Cheza, or Madame Cheza as Nathan says, she's rather sweet.

"Uso no ie nai kimi ga iru, furueru koe juwaki goshi ni…" I sung quietly to myself along the somewhat peaceful streets. UVERworld was playing on the little headphones I had placed in my ears and I relaxed for a bit. I kind of found myself losing some fear, so long as I had my headphones on.

It was probably around 10 or so in the morning and lo and behold I found myself right in front of the Omoro. I looked at it and smiled, relaxing my grip on the little blue mp3 player I had in my grasp. I noticed that the Omoro was empty which meant that either Kai had was doing some last minute cleaning or that he hadn't come yet. I decided to sit by a small bench near the Omoro and patiently waited, I had nothing else to do now I had no classes scheduled for this day.

**K a i**

Lewis at that point decided to let me go on ahead, he would catch in a little bit. I turned on the ignition from the motorcycle, placing the helmet over my head and without so much as a second thought I found myself flying down the streets. The background began to fade as my vision focused on the path before me.

I hadn't slept all that well, thinking back to Irene for some odd reason, and the little red balloon she had held before I came to her rescue. That was some time ago, months long into the past, but still I couldn't get her out of my head. It was rare for me to have dreams like that, but I guess my subconscious is trying to tell me something. What it is, of course I might probably never know because dreams work in different ways.

The lush scenery around me somehow didn't seem to hold the same value as it had did before, I think it was because I didn't have Saya yelling at me to slow down. But I do it now just out of habit, plus it's my own way of reliving good memories.

"_How did you know?" she asked me once._

"_I kind of figured it out a while back…" I told her._

I breathed in taking the last corner, hugging it tightly so as it keep the curve open to other passing cars. I wondered if that girl was sitting outside of Omoro, she probably was, just sitting there and waiting, I kind of felt bad about leaving the house so late. It wasn't my fault though, Akako and Amaya had run out of diapers and I needed Lewis to do me that quick errand, I just wasn't going to leave my kids all alone, what kind of parent would I be?

Somehow I found myself getting closer and closer to the Omoro, and I wasn't really thinking about the speed I was going at, but I knew it was close to being a safe limit so I didn't bother so much with that. I slowed down on the street that connected with the Omoro mostly because little kids would be playing around in that neighborhood, and last time I almost ran into one, luckily no one was hurt, except for a rubber ball and my arm.

I parked the bike somewhere close by the white painted building. I saw the signs it had and smiled, this was something my dad had shared with all of us, and I guess he had wanted us to run it like a family, but we can't really do that now, but maybe in time we will.

With that simple thought in my head I took off the helmet and pushed back some strands of hair. That's the one thing I didn't like about the helmet was that 'helmet hair' became somewhat of an issue, but that really didn't matter I guess seeing as how I'm not really doing anything else for the time being. I blinked and noticed a lone figure sitting quietly near a bench by the Omoro. The figure was singing something but I could barely make it out because of the distance between us.

The figure paused and looked up, for a spilt second our eyes had connected, and with that she looked back down again, putting something into her sweater pocket. '_Yep, that's her all right…_' I chuckled quietly to myself and took the bike helmet with me. I walked across the dark colored asphalt and stopped shortly after reaching the sidewalk. My eyes wandered back to the lone figure sitting by herself and she looked up, as if she could sense it.

"Hi Kai Miyagusuku." She said with that same politeness that never seemed to leave her. "I sort of came a bit too early…" she chuckled to herself and looked at me, her eyes traveled down south to the helmet that was dangling by my fingertips. "How long have you been riding?" she asked.

"About three years or so…" I responded noticing her eyes wandered away from me. It didn't bug me, some of my customers were like that. "Do you drive?"

"No…" she smiled and shook her head. "I'm not a big fan of driving."

"You worried about the ozone layer?" I responded jokingly, and she seemed to laugh a bit but again she shook her head.

"I'd prefer not to, I'd rather walk or take the bus, it's a bit healthier to walk, but Nathan wants me to at learn _how_ to drive." Selma said taking off her glasses for a moment, she paused and cleaned the lenses with a small corner of her shirt. "Where are the twins?"

"A good friend of mine is bringing them over in a little bit." I said pulling out the keys from my pocket. They made a little bit of noise as I picked out the key to unlock the Omoro.

I felt something move the helmet from my grasp and I looked to the ground thinking it had fallen, but it stared at me from the side. The new girl was holding it for me just until I opened the door to the building. I walked in and placed the keys back inside my pocket and looked in back of me, she was gone.

I looked straight ahead and felt my mouth open a bit, she was right in front of me now. She smiled at me nervously and made herself towards the counter, leaning forward for a moment.

"Are you hungry?" I asked. She looked up, a bit surprised. "Something at least to munch on before you help take care of the twins."

"I guess…" she sighed in defeat and sat down.

I walked past her and made my way to the other side of the counter. I was getting the food ready, and before long the smell of food was starting to fill the place up. This new girl's been really quiet for the most part, and she doesn't talk as much as I thought she would've. To be honest I kind of forget that she's even sitting there most of the time.

"Do you enjoy working here?" I chuckled at the question. The moment she asked me I was boiling two eggs, one for the new girl and one for Lewis. Tempura was next on the list and I got to working on that right away.

"I do… it's not a bad job, plus this was my dad's." I informed her. She watched my hand movements as I was making the batter for the tempura. "You like living here?" I asked her.

"I do… a lot really." She laughed. "It's starting to feel more and more like home."

"Have you ever been to New York?" I asked her looking up at her for a spilt second.

"No… but I have family who lives there." She said and paused. "It smells really good…" Selma said.

The rice was already in the steamer, and the tempura was done not to mention the boiled eggs. I placed the tempura neatly on the side of the plate and the boiled egg right next to it, putting a little plastic sauce container neatly to the side, that was for the tempura. With the white fluffy comestible material already done I spooned out a somewhat normal portion and placed it on the plate.

"There you go." I said with a slight smile on my face. She expressed her gratitude while handed her the proper utensils so she could eat. "It's free of charge since you're helping me with the twins."

"Then I should help you out everyday…" she was joking of course.

**Several minutes later**

A rather large man stepped into the Omoro holding an infant in each had. He was wearing a rather large orange shirt, with a plain black shirt underneath. Most striking of all were the dark glasses he had on him. The brown skinned girl looked up at the dark skinned man and stood up, ignoring her meal for a moment.

"Lewis this is Selma." Kai said placing a small had towel over his shoulder. "Selma, this is Lewis."

"Hello Mr. Lewis." The brown skinned girl said. It surprised the man known as Lewis that for a foreigner her Japanese was for the most part almost perfect. The older man nodded and would've expressed his salutation if it weren't for one small factor. Selma chuckled and nodded, stepping out of his way as he walked through the doorway that read 'Staff Only'.

The young adolescent made her way back to her plate of food and continued eating once more. She munched a little bit on the tempura and poked the boiled egg for a moment with one chopstick. Kai watched her for a moment and dried his hands on the white towel he had over his shoulder. Selma looked up at him, the pendant from his necklace was a curious little thing to her, but she tried her best not to stare as much.

"Where are you from Selma?" Lewis asked as he reached the two of them.

"Los Angeles…" she replied watching Lewis pull up a seat close beside her. "You're from Okinawa, aren't you?"

"Born and raised." He said proudly. "You know you don't really have much of an accent when you talk."

"Thank you…" she replied timidly and bite into the boiled egg. Kai decided to serve Lewis the same dish seeing as how he had made some extra just in case.

"She's going to be helping us with the twins." Kai said watching the two of them eat from his side of the area. "I hope you don't mind Lewis, I kind of already made her a promise that she could…"

"Don't worry about it Kai. Why don't the four of you just got out today, I can manage the Omoro just fine."

"I don't mind taking care of them in the Omoro…" Selma said in between bites. "But it depends on you Kai Miyagusuku."

Lewis gave him a certain look and Kai felt like he was figuratively being cornered with his back against the wall. '_I guess… it's been a while since I've taken the twins somewhere nice…_' he thought and let out a small sigh in defeat. The red head looked at the dark haired girl and smiled slightly.

"I'll get the twins then." She responded softly and before long disappeared into the other room. Kai noticed that her plate was empty, except for the shrimp tail left neatly to the side of the plate.

"It'll take your mind off things," Lewis said picking up his plate and the newcomer's plate. "You need to take a break, you've been working yourself too hard. Beside hanging out with that girl might do you some good…"

Kai sighed at the thought his friend was forming and watched him clean the plate for a moment. The sound of footsteps caught his attention and he turned around slightly, she was carrying the infants in their little carriers. Something had caught the young looking adolescent's attention. The pictures pinned up by a small bulletin, her finger gingerly traced one of George, Kai, Saya, and Riku all together.

"Come on Selma, let's go…" Kai said looking back at Lewis, the older man handed him some keys. "We're just going out for a while…" he said and walked out the door of the Omoro, Selma did the same after saying goodbye to Lewis.

"…" she stayed silent for a while and looked down at Akako and Amaya, they were sleeping peacefully. '_They really like sleeping…_' she thought and looked up for a moment. Kai was waiting from them by a dark colored car.

"Let's get going, shall we?" he smiled. She looked down at the little ones and asked the same question but in a very soft, gentle whisper. The twins smiled in their sleep, dreaming of whatever it was babes dreamt of.

Kai tried his best to not wake them up as he placed each one in their designated car seat. Akako yawned and looked up, her little red eyes caught sight of their uncle, their designated guardian, and she moved her sight to the girl in the background, she cooed but that was it. Amaya was still fast asleep in her car seat, undisturbed by the action that had taken place.

"Don't wake up your sister…" Kai said softly placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. He closed the door and looked back at Selma, she was still as quiet as last time. "We should get going then…" he said, he offered to open her car door but she declined and opened it herself.

**In the car**

Somehow the brown skinned girl asked Kai if he could stop near a beach. She explained to him that she really hadn't gone to a beach in Okinawa yet and that she wanted to go at least once before the semester for her was over. She opened the car door and noticed several people walking along the sandy beaches. She breathed in and caught the fragrance of the sea breeze, it was relaxing to her.

The infants started to whimper a bit seeing as how no one was around to greet them as they woke up. Selma took her role and leaned over the passenger seat, the babes were greeted with a person who was upside down in their line of vision. Amaya made a soft coo and the brown skinned adolescent smiled, and tickled their little tummies.

Kai had been standing outside when the children had woken up, he was lost in memories already. He was thinking back at the walk he had promised to take Irene on. '_I'm never going to get that chance…_' he thought and sighed. The sound of laughter caught his attention and he turned his gaze to the car. The babies were laughing at something Selma had done. He sighed and decided to go back in the car. Kai left the door open from the drivers side and shifted his weight so that he could see the little twins as well.

"They're really cute, I bet just like their mother and father…" she said softly. Kai flinched a bit but regained his composure after that. "I don't want to be mean or anything but… why aren't they here?" she asked, referring to the two individuals, Diva and Riku.

"They passed away…" Kai said softly, and the newcomer expressed her remorse. "They're in a better place though."

"Yeah…" she said resting her hand on the handle of the one of the baby's car seats. "Akako looks a lot like your sister, Saya."

"She gets that a lot." Kai said taking pride in that matter. "It's because her twin sister was their mother…"

"I take it the little boy in that picture was their father…" her hand rested on Amaya's cheek, she gently stroked the delicate infant. "Amaya has his features… it's in her eyes…"

Kai knew that she didn't mean anything by it, it was just a simple observation, but he couldn't get Riku's stare out of his head. He leaned against the driver seat again and closed his eyes, he didn't want to remember Riku like that but that image would forever haunt him, he couldn't help it at times.

"_Aruru mi niños, aruru mi amor…_" she let the words gentle form a lullaby to the children, and for a moment it was calming. "_Duermese mis niños, duermese ya…_" the words danced around in Kai's mind and for a while he relaxed.

"Why are you singing them a lullaby?" he asked catching her backside, she was watching the infants for a moment.

"Just for no reason…" she said sitting upright now. "They were going to start to cry for some reason…" Selma said softly and with that she walked out of the car, opened the backside door and took Amaya in her hands. "Come on, we might as well let the babies have their fun, I doubt they're want to be stuck in a car for the remainder of the time…"

Kai for some reason found himself with Akako in his grasp. He locked the doors and off the two went, each with one infant in their grasp. Kai Miyagusuku, the last conscious member of their family, walking down the sidewalk with a somewhat complete stranger and two nieces.

The light blue ocean, nor the white sand, not even the sky could capture Kai's attention, his mind was wandering far to much now for a simple conversation to be carried about. Maybe it was a good thing the new girl didn't talk so much, at least for Kai she was just a tad bit, but her simple actions and words could make his memories spill over the imaginary sink of his mind.

**A/N:** You know what to do _**one**_ review please!


	4. Know Your Shield Part I

**A/N: **Here's another chapter you guys!

**Chapter Four:** Know your Shield part I

The brown skinned girl sat by a table, making little faces at one of the young babes. The infant clapped her hands cooing again and the adolescent took some great joy out of that. The other twin made a face, wanting some attention placed on her and Selma couldn't help herself but give raspberry kisses on the infant's soft belly. Akako and Amaya gave out small laughs as they wiggled about from the light tickles. The 19 year old red head sighed, leaning his whole body forward watching the babies enjoy the presence of their visitor.

"You have a way with kids…" Kai couldn't help but say. He laughed noticing that Amaya had taken away the females glasses.

"I've always loved kids, and babysitting helped back home." She said softly, tickling Amaya so that she could release her delicate glasses. She finally had them in her grasp, but Amaya didn't seem too happy about that, but either way the little infant managed to laugh. "Kids just seem to like me I guess…"

Kai smiled for a moment and noticed the twins reaching out towards her for some reason. Selma sighed slightly and looked up at Kai:

"They haven't eaten anything for a while…"

Luckily they weren't at the Omoro this time, Kai's home was the source will all the nutrition the infants would need. She watched him for a moment and she couldn't help but smile, he acted like such a parent, it amazed her. 'He really loves these two little girls…' she thought plopping her chin down on the table, watching the infants squirm around in their little carriers.

Lewis had closed the Omoro by the time they had returned from the beach, and dusk was starting to make its way through the sky signifying a change in time of course. Daylight wasn't scarce, but Lewis had suggested that they all go back to Kai's home. Somehow the large Okinawan man planned this from the very beginning in his own head, but somehow the plan backfired when he noticed Selma sitting in the front passenger seat of his car, instead of expecting her to wait by the motorcycle.

"You say dreams a dream, I am not playin' the fool anymore…" she sang for a moment and noticed the children quiet down for a while. "Have you notice that they're quiet whenever someone sings?"

"I never noticed that…" Kai admitted, placing two bottles down, gently beside the young adolescent's face. She pushed herself up and brought one of the infants into her arms. "Their mother use to be a well known opera singer…" he said, thinking back to the old Red Shield days.

The infants always needed a second helping of whatever they ate for some reason, they always had a large appetite, and yet they never seemed to gain weight, at least not to the newcomer's amazement. The babies were burped before preparing another bottle of baby formula, and once again they were eating before long. The two adolescent's so different in mind and physique, had been brought together by a two small life-forces. Though the male still had memories running through his head, he tried his best not to let it interfere with the present.

Selma placed Akako back in her little red and white colored carrier and waltzed over to the radio that was near the sink. Kai had never seen her act like that at all, she had never stayed with him that long until today, finding things that seemed strange to him a bit. Her hands rested against the volume knob and put it as low as she could till it was but a faint whisper, for the sake of the children. She hummed the little ditty for a while and looked back at Kai, he seemed relaxed at this point.

"Your Japanese… you learn mostly from song, right?" he asked grinning, he had hit the nail right on the head, so to speak. Selma nodded and scratched her cheek, she had been found out in a way.

"Mr. Mahler says that it's best to learn in a way that you enjoy and I'll be damned if…" she covered her mouth quickly and felt her eyes widen at a realization. Kai tilted his head and raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner. "Sorry!" she said bowing her head. "I shouldn't say such things in front of the little ones… their brains are like sponges…"

The young red head placed an arm at the table, propping his elbow up, and resting the side of his check on his palm. 'She can act like a kid at times I guess…' he thought admiring that quality about her, too bad their friendship would mostly end before it would become stable, at least that's what they both thought. The infants had fallen asleep, and as a conditioned reaction they each looked up at the clock that had been carefully placed near the dining table.

With the adorned little hands that read the time, and the ticking second hand, combined with an ocean view colored background, the clock read 11:46. Selma flinched and pulled out a small cellular phone from her pocket and gulped, the clock had not lied at all. The sound of creaking wood caught their attention and they looked up, peering into the entrance of the living room.

The two individuals had moved from the wooden floored kitchen to the slight dimly lit entrance of the living room. The furniture had a calm color to it, similar to what one saw in a magazine, and a little round coffee table in the center. Someone within the comfort of the comfy couch yawned, and to their relief Lewis had started waking up. He peered in back of him and smiled lazily.

"It's getting late, Ms. Lopez." The man said, getting the girl to chuckle nervously. "Have Kai take you home, I'll put Akako and Amaya in their cribs while you go to Nathan's." he said looking at Kai.

The two 19 year olds looked at one another and chuckled quietly amongst themselves. They hurried in their pace though, because Nathan would be a bit furious if she were brought back home at such a late hour. Kai commented that she was like his child, but Selma shook her head expressing her own ideas.

"He says I remind him of someone he cared for deeply…" she said, making sure her mp3 player was safely within her sweater pocket. The brown skinned female waited for him at the doorstep, retrieving her shoes, and putting them on, patting them against the floor with the tip of the toe. "I know that he helped take care of Diva…" she said thinking about if for a moment. Kai walked towards the entrance getting his shoes in the same manner. He was wearing a jacket for the cold weather, a dark blue one with little patches on it.

"But that wasn't who he was referring to?" Kai asked, he seemed a bit curious as to why Nathan would let out such a small but important detail.

She shook her head in response:

"Come on Kai, we should really get going…"

**S e l m a**

You know what they call the backseat of a motorcycle? The 'bitch' seat, yes that's what they call it, great. It doesn't really matter to me thought because I'm enjoying myself, even if it is in the comfort of the bitch seat. I'm holding on to Kai's sides, and it's rather uncomfortable, my social awkwardness is taking over a little bit. He keeps telling me to hold on tighter so I won't go flying off because of my scrawny ol' body. At least he can make me laugh.

I looked through the visor of the helmet and watched the city life of Okinawa come to life under the cover of night, it looked beautiful. I know other people would say that it's no big deal, especially if they've lived there for their whole life. Kai began to decrease in his acceleration, and I peered over to the side, trying my best not to shift around so much. The crescent moon was beginning to shine down on the water's edge.

"It's so beautiful…" I said gasping in delight. I could faintly hear Kai chuckle and mutter something else, but I didn't pay that much attention. The scene to the side of us was all that captivated my attention at that moment.

The scene faded after what seemed like hours, just staring at the water and the sky neatly decorated with stars, and the glow from the moon. The road was beginning to swerve a bit but that didn't bother Kai at all he maneuvered the bike as if it were second nature to him.

"Where do I turn?" he asked noticing the off ramps.

"Right…" I said absent-mindedly, thinking back to the scene we had just passed. I tightened my grip on the driver and sighed, turning my head to the side slightly. For some reason that sight made me think back to home. I wondered what my parents were doing, and my old friends, a life full of wonder, which was what filled my whole day. Something snapped me back into focus. "Kai… you missed the turn…"

"Yeah I know…" he said softly. "We're going to visit someone quick, I promise it won't take long, okay?"

"Mr. Mahler's not going to be too happy about that…" I said watching as we came into a peaceful looking neighborhood. "Who lives here?"

"Old friends…" he responded and approached a quaint looking house that was curiously placed on the corner of a street.

Something triggered in the back of my head, and I remembered something that Kai had said on the phone when he was talking with someone:

"…Sure I'll come over in a little bit I guess, I'm kind of busy right now… That's no problem, don't worry about it. Don't work yourself too hard… Yeah that's how it is. Tell her and the kids I said hi. All right, I'll see you later then…"

He parked neatly on by the sidewalk and I moved first, taking off the helmet, and looking back at him. I was going to say something but he shook his head. I was going to thank him for going out of his way to do this, but I guess he already knew I was going to say that.

"Don't go thanking me yet, you still aren't back home…" He said taking off his helmet, looking at the quaint looking home. "…" he paused for a moment and pulled out his cell phone marking something on speed dial. "Yo David, yeah I'm outside right now, I'm going to come inside, and I brought a friend if you don't mind…"

After several seconds of exchanging conversation back and forth the phone call was terminated and we were able to walk down the small gated yard with ease, leaving behind the parked motorcycle and bringing with us the helmets we had used. The grass seemed lively as we walked on the little cement pathway. The house in general looked a bit plain, but it seemed cozy. There was a light on to the side of the home, almost as if they had been expecting company that whole time. We managed to go up the three small steps and we were outside the door.

I looked up at the little insects dancing about the porch light and I flinched, noticing a strange looking bug. Out of simple reaction I tugged on Kai's jacket. He flinched and I apologized, hiding from whatever it was that was fluttering around the exposed light bulb.

"Insects?" he asked, laughing.

"That's not funny, I bet you're never had bees fly into your hair, or roaches climb on your leg, have spiders crawl on your hand…" I shuddered at all the horrible encounters I had faced as a simple kid. "Or even a grasshopper shoved in your face…" I got goose bumps just at the mere thought.

Kai shook his head and knocked on the door, and it felt like an eternity, which for me was a good thing seeing as how I didn't know these people at all. The door opened and a woman greeted us at the doorway. She had very light brown hair that went down past her shoulders, and grey colored eyes that were covered with glasses. This woman didn't look very tired at all, but she was wearing a light colored bathrobe kind of giving off a comforting vibe to her whole demeanor.

"It's nice seeing you again Kai." The woman said. She looked to be about in her late twenties or so, and to be honest she had a figure that would make almost any woman on earth jealous. Aside from that though she seemed pretty normal. "And who's your friend?" she asked politely.

"My name's Selma Lopez ma'am…" I said feeling like a little kid all over again.

**Current scene**

She welcomed them inside and walked them over the rather wide hallway into a small comfortable looking room, which was apparently their living room. Sitting on the couch was a man who seemed to have the appearance of someone in their thirties or so, with blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a comfortable dark sleeping robe and pajama pants with slippers.

"I hope we didn't keep you waiting…" Kai said rubbing the back of his head. He sat down on the couch that was in front of the woman named Julia and the other man by the name of David. Selma sat on the other side of where Kai was sitting, keeping to herself for what seemed like an eternity. He looked back at the young brown skinned adolescent and flinched a bit. "This is Selma Lopez, the friend I mentioned earlier."

"Well hello Selma…" the slightly serious looking adult male said, causing Selma to chuckle a bit. "You can call me David."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. David." She said rubbing the back of her head out of embarrassment. "And likewise to you, Ms. Julia." Selma said trying to extend her warmest greetings possible.

'Could this really be the girl that is staying with that Chevalier?' David was puzzled by that notion for a while. He knew for a fact that Kai had mentioned it before, and it wasn't that he didn't trust the girl from the first impression, he had jus assumed that it would've been someone who looked more like Diva. In everyway she seemed very different from Diva in appearance, there was doubt there, and demeanor. 'What would a Chevalier want with a normal human girl?' he asked himself but he could find no answer.

Julia placed a gentle hand on David's shoulder and whispered something into his ear. He nodded and whispered something inaudible and she smiled. She excused herself and wished both Kai and the newcomer a goodnight. They did the same, watching her leave the small living room and disappearing into another unknown room. It was at that moment that the man remembered something and stood up, asking Kai to follow him for a moment. The red head had instructed the 19 year old female to wait for him for just a bit.

Selma sighed, and made herself more comfortable on the couch, letting the helmet rest on her lap. She glanced to the side and noticed Kai's helmet resting on where he had sat moments ago. 'I can't believe I rode on the back of a motorcycle!' she thought feeling a smile tug at the corner of her lips. Back home with the rest of her family they never would've allowed that type of behavior, but here was a different story.

"You're taking her home pretty late Kai… did you guys get caught up with something?" she couldn't help but cover her mouth so as the muffle the gentle laugh.

"She's helping me with the twins David…" Kai said laughing. "She's really good with kids, maybe she could help you out with your kids sometime."

The girl thought about it, looking up at the crème colored ceiling. 'A babysitting service? Nathan would go crazy with little kids running about…' she thought closing her eyes, and resting her head. She heard the sound of rushing wind and sat up, thinking for a moment it was Nathan Mahler. Selma turned her head and found herself face to face with a purple haired, green eyed girl.

"Ai!" Selma blurted out, jumping to her feet. "Um…"

"I'm sorry!" the young girl said moving back a bit. "I didn't mean to scare you…"

"I was expecting someone else…" the older one muttered mostly to herself, but the girl caught whiff of what she had said. "But it's all right…" she said looking at the young girl. "And you are…?"

"My name's Lulu." The young girl said, extending her hand. "What's your name?"

"Selma." She said shaking the young girl's hand. Lulu's complexion was light, almost as if she had never been in the sunlight, and the temperature she gave off seemed slightly less than the regular warmth emitted by others. "It's nice meeting you Lulu."

The young girl was wearing a dark colored pajama outfit with strange colored slippers that seemed to clash with the outfit itself. Her hair was down, with little waves here and there from where she had held up her hair with little bands.

"You too." The young human looking girl said. "You smell of Kai…" the purple haired girl said smiling. Selma sniffed the sleeves of her sweater and raised an eyebrow as to why the other girl's sense of smell was so tuned. Lulu laughed nervously and to the side, something caught her attention.

David and Kai were standing by the doorway, watching the two other individuals talking amongst themselves. In the red head's grip there was a small black box, which was the item that Mr. David had wanted to give Kai for some time. Lulu chuckled and waved to Kai for a moment. She excused herself and went back to where ever it was she came from bidding them a goodnight.

"You two should probably get going then…" David said looking back at the new individual for a moment or two. "We don't want your caretaker to get furious at you."

Kai thanked David again and Selma stood up, outstretching her hand as David said his goodbyes. He shook it and she placed a gentle smile and said thank you, and before long she grabbed the Kai's helmet and the two walked out the door. He watched them safely move towards the motorcycle, but he couldn't help but be just a little paranoid. There had been several Chiropteran attacks within Japan, but they became less and less by the week.

'Joel had said that Saya had stabbed that Chevalier with her sword…' he thought back and sighed. It could've been possible that maybe there were Chiropterans as old as time itself.

**K a i**

'All right the bullets are in the back… And the guns in there too…' I thought as I was going back the way we came from. It would've been nice if David had offered some coffee, but I mean he looked tired already and I didn't really want to bother him at all, but that's that I guess. We're going to Nathan's house so I can drop her off. Surprisingly she's been patient all this time, not once complaining, but I know that in her head she's mouthing off about the time.

I made a right and before long the road just seemed to stop, everything was on a dirt path now. The headlights could barely make out the road, but she told me all we had to do was keep going straight. I looked in the distance and noticed several lights turned on, we were almost there. I could feel her sway a bit from side to side, she was probably getting tired already.

"We're almost there…" I said turning my head a bit, she nodded but her grip was starting to grow weak with sleep. I decreased in speed because somehow I just had a feeling she was going to slump over to the side of the road.

"Maybe I should call Nathan…" she muttered softly to herself as the bike came to a complete stop. I took off my helmet and watched her for a moment and she supported herself against the stationed motorcycle, she really was tired all right. "Mr. Mahler…? Oh come on Mr. Nathan I know you're there you left the lights on again… We're not that far down the road… Oh well, okay I'll just walk back home I guess… I'll see you inside…" her voice faltered a bit and she yawned. She shook her head and placed the helmet back on. "I can manage another couple of miles…"

With that again we headed down the road, but I had to watch my speed as she warned me about animals that would run into the middle of the road. 'Great…' I thought sighing for a moment. There was a loud howl of some sort, and I stopped. I could feel the girl's grip get a little strong. 'I feel like I've heard that before…' I thought back, remembering something unearthly about that noise.

"…I need you to get off the bike…" I warned her softly, and I could feel her tremble a bit, but I wondered if it could've been because of the cold. She slowly climbed down and I took off my helmet and placed it on the bike. I made my way to the back opening a small compartment. 'I never though I'd have to use this again…' I thought watching the M1911 pistol rest inside. I loaded the gun that had faint traces of Saya's blood encased within the ammunition. I doubt it would work against them, seeing as how it was very faint, but none the less it would get the job done until helped arrived.

"Get behind me…" I whispered to her as she moved towards me. "Whatever you do don't go running off, that thing will catch you…" I said looking around, I couldn't see it all that well with the naked eye alone.

The howl was there again and I felt her arm tug on my sleeve. She asked me what that was and I couldn't really come to grip to tell her, or else all those memories would come flooding back again, but just to ease her mind, I had to. I told her it was a Chiropteran, something that fed off human or animal blood. I heard her gulp and tried to get her to relax a bit.

"Kai behind you!" a familiar voice said. Was I the only one who heard that? Still I pointed my gun behind me, and I saw nothing. 'That was Saya's voice… Not again…' I thought shaking my head. My mind was playing tricks on me.

Selma flinched, hearing something I apparently didn't hear, and frozen for a moment. She pointed in the distance and something moved by, a glow of red orbs caught our attention.

"Wind… it sounds like the wind when it moves…" she whispered hearing the speed of the Chiropteran. "It's faint, but you can hear it…" Selma whispered holding on tightly to the side of my jacket.

I could hear it, it was faint, but I knew it would come closer and closer. There was a small growl in the distance and I aimed the pistol in the direction of the sound. The Chiropteran moved, this time letting its feet hit the ground, and the thud was audible this time. I told her not to scream, but even that was asking for a miracle.

She breathed in and the creature timed it perfectly making itself known, the headlights hitting in right in the face. She screamed with the sound of a fired shot. This Chiropteran looked different, it didn't have that horse shaped head at all, but the body looked the same for some reason. The bullet slowed it down for the mean time and it was more than enough to escape on the two wheeled vehicle.

"What if it comes back?"

"It is…" I said accelerating down the road. She whimpered as we narrowly avoided a gust of wind, it was attacking with its speed. Nathan's house was in the distance, and he was the only one I know that would kill this Chiropteran. She asked then, why were we still going to Nathan's. "Because… he can help…"

Something happened and we found ourselves in the air, the pistol landed several feet away, and the bike had slid across the dirt road. I heard a body hit the ground first and before long I found myself rolling on the ground. I looked through the visor of the helmet finding the girl on the dirt road, she moved her arm a bit, and I sighed in relief noticing that she was conscious. I scrambled to the side trying to get the pistol.

There was a loud thud near me and I moved the pistol forward, face to face with the Chiropteran. I breathed heavily and pulled the trigger, it let out a loud howl of pain, as the bullet had pierced its forehead. I moved away and noticed that Selma was cowering behind the fallen bike. There was a flash reflected off from her visor, and she seemed to relax for a moment, and I looked behind me, a strange looking form appeared before us. 'Nathan?' I thought to myself, watching the blue hued Chevalier.

"Move, now!" the distorted image managed to speak and before long I pushed the bike up as I got close enough. We wasted no time to move further down the road.

There was another Chiropteran growl, but something in the distance brought the creature down with tremendous force. I watched as the transformed Chevalier continued its onslaught on the strange looking Chiropteran.

"Are you okay?" I asked looking back at her for a moment.

"I'm fine… just a little shaken…" she said.

Nathan escaped our line of view and so did the Chiropteran and for a moment I thought we were safe. Something fluttered by and I heard someone scream at the same time the bike felt lighter.

**Current scene**

"Nathan! Nathan!" the voice screamed as it was being carried away. "HELP!" the voice managed to muster enough strength to have the noise carry across the field. Something decorated the sky, a strange looking creature moved through the air and snatched the small defenseless human back into its grasp. Kai tried his best to keep on the bike watching the fight take to the skies. Blows connected with tremendous force, giving off faint silver glows. Before long the last attack knocked both forces back, a blue creature skidded against the dirt road holding tightly to the small girl in its strange arms.

It placed the girl on the ground and jumped up into the air piercing the opponent with its claw like appendage and it let out an earthly howl. With violent force of another swift movement of the arm something fell from the sky, and landed on the ground with a loud splat, it was the head of the chiropteran. Kai triggered the brake on the motorcycle and rushed over to the fallen girl, she seemed all right.

Out of the blue a human with blonde hair and colored eyes stepped through the field, dusting himself off, looking rather pleased. Kai had his pistol in his hand, but it wasn't aimed at the man. Nathan chuckled and let out a rather annoyed sigh.

"It would've been better if you brought her back in the morning…" the flamboyant Chevalier said. "This one doesn't stand the day light…" he said looking over his shoulder, the remaining body parts were scattered all over the field. "It'll be gone in the morning…"

"That's a different kind of Chiropteran… isn't it?" Kai asked looking up at the Chevalier.

"Boy you catch on quick." He said chuckling. He moved quickly and reappeared with the unconscious girl in his arm. He carried her as if she were a child. "I'd really appreciate it if you didn't bring her home so late Kai. But I do appreciate that you tried keeping her safe." Nathan said smiling.

"What are you going to tell her when she wakes up?" Kai asked, getting up and dusting himself off. Nathan shook his head as a response. "You're going to hide this from her?!" he asked stepping forward. "She's not a child Nathan!"

"…I realize that…" he said softly looking down at the expression of her sleep. In a way it pained him having to see her sleep like that, because he no longer could enjoy dreaming. He brushed away some of the wayward strands of hair that seemed to gaze her face. "A girl like her couldn't handle fighting… Just like how Saya had acted before…" Nathan had struck a chord in Kai's heart.

"Goodnight Kai Miyagusuku…" and with that the sound of a gentle breeze was all that proved that Nathan had left.

**A/N: **You know what to do, **_one _**review please!


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